GLUSSK (Yid. Hlusk), town in Polesie district, Belarus. Jews settled in Glussk in the third quarter of the 17^th century. Jehiel b. Solomon *Heilprin was rabbi there and compiled the regulations of its ḥevra kaddisha. In 1717 the Jews paid a 600 zloty poll tax. In 1819 they numbered 1,405, in 1847 – 3,148, in 1897 – 3,801 (71% of the total population), and in 1926 – 2,581 (58.3%). Glussk had no industry. Some of the Jews produced a special kind of tea (called Glussk tea) but most were gardeners, carpenters, horse merchants, and small traders. In the mid-1920s 40 families earned their livelihoods from farming, the others were artisans, and some still engaged in trade. A Yiddish school and Jewish council were in operation. In 1939 the Jews numbered 1,935 (38% of the total population). The Germans occupied Glussk on July 3, 1941. In December 1941 and January 1942 the Jews were murdered near Khvastovichi. Some who escaped to the forest fought in partisan units.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego 3 (1882), 78–79; Yevrei v SSSR (1929⁴), 51; Sefer ha-Partizanim, 1 (1958), 648–9; Y. Slutzky (ed.), Sefer Bobruisk, 2 (1967), 764–8.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.